Why the Blog Title?

Apoblogia (a-po-blog-EE-a) is a portmanteau. It comes from the classic Bible verse on apologetics: “Always be ready to make a defense [Greek apologia] to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15b). It sums up well what my blog is all about, which is striving to think clearly and rationally about my Christian hope.

I don’t believe that people are won to Christ by the strength of arguments per se; only the Holy Spirit can bring a person to faith. But the Lord ordains ends as well as means, and he may see fit to use a believer’s reasoned defense of the faith to save an unbeliever. Further, far too many unbelievers think that Christianity requires a surrender of the intellect, and this misconception is only reinforced by secular academia and the popular media. Christians need to show that their faith is a rational and credible option (in fact, the only completely rational and credible option), so that when an unbeliever considers accepting the claims of Christianity, he/she has the intellectual permission to do so.